


Bad Luck Day

by torkz



Series: 'feeling is first' verse [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Chowder week, Domestic Fluff, Kid Fic, Mental Health Issues, Multi, NHL!Chowder, Parenthood, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 00:05:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12287043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torkz/pseuds/torkz
Summary: My contribution for Chowder week days one through three: full moon, family dinner, and future. It’s in the same verse as my fic ‘feeling is first’. You dont have to read that to read this but you’re welcome to!





	1. Family dinners under a full moon

Chris is standing in his office, stressing a little over the call that just ended. He’s been discussing his options with his GM about what he’s doing next and where he’s going with his career, considering they're wanting to trade him to a team on the east coast. He’s been with the Sharks going on 10 years now, and his spouses and babies have settled here. The kids have friends and love their school, and it’s been such a big help to have access to four of their eight grandparents. Uprooting his family is just not an option, especially considering Cait just got a big promotion at her job.

He can’t help but think of the bad timing of getting this call today of all days, what with his kids giving them all such grief about it being a full moon and Friday the 13th all at the same time. Thinking of his babies brings a smile to his face despite everything, even as he paces and tries to rub the worry out of his chest. Chris maintains that having them is the best thing he’s ever done in his life, even with the way he worried himself into the ground when they found out they were having twins and rare ones at that: Derek and Chris had fathered a baby each. Their happiness and comfort trumped all else, and he knows what the best decision is for everyone.

He’s still pacing when he hears the pitter patter of little feet running up to his office door. Akilah bursts in with a grin, launching herself into his arms with the full confidence that he’ll catch her. Her long thick hair is in a French braid and the end of it whips around as he spins his daughter.

“Hey butterfly, what’s up?” Chris says, pressing a kiss to her hair as he hikes her up on his hip.

“I was looking for you. You’re going to be home tonight, right?” She says, holding his face.

“Hmm, I don’t know, is there something we’re supposed to be doing tonight?” He teases, voice muffled where his daughter is squeezing his cheeks.

“Daddy, you know we’re going to have dinner tonight. You promised!” she says in Spanish, wriggling out of his arms to stand on her own and cross her arms.

Chris throws his head back and laughs grabbing her again and tossing her over his shoulder, much to her delight and frustration. He bounces her as he walks out of his office and down the stairs, laughing as she squeals.

“Oh, dinner? Hmm, I don’t know if I can make it,” he says, reaching the bottom of the stairs and heading into the living room.

“You’re mean! Bajame!” She says back, and he respects her wishes, putting her down and laughing when she sticks her tongue out at him.

“You have to be here because it’s like, the ultimate bad luck day. Right, Ezra?” she says, turning to her brother who is playing videos from his perch on the floor in front of the couch.

“Yeah,” he says, eyes focused on his game, “and we’re going to eat a bunch of good luck foods and have dinner together.”

“See, if Ezra says it that makes it double right,” Akilah says. She sits next to him to watch what he’s doing, questions already on the tip of her tongue.

“Well alright, if Ezra says it too, I guess I’ll have to be here,” Chris says, ruffling her hair. “Where’s your mama?”

“I think she’s upstairs checking on Papa, he hasn’t come down yet and it’s already one o'clock,” Ezra answers.

“Okay, you guys hang out, I’ll grab them and then we’ll go to the grocery store,” Chris says. They’re already over him, leaning their heads together while Ezra explains to Akilah what he’s playing and how to get to the next level.

It’s nice to see them like this. Chris couldn’t help but be worried that they would have a hard time getting along with their personalities being so different, but they get each other in a way no one else seems to. Akilah brings Ezra out of his shell and Ezra reigns Akilah in, and they always know just what the other needs. He leans down and kisses them both in turn, just because he can, before turning and heading back up the stairs.

He bypasses the kids’ rooms and heads to his own, where he finds his husband and wife laying in bed, Cait running her fingers through Derek’s hair and whispering softly. He makes a noise of comfort in his throat as he crawls into bed with them, running a hand softly over Derek’s side and leaning down to nuzzle his cheek.

“Hey, Papa. Bad morning?” he says quietly.

He watches as Derek nods and continues his motions winding the blanket in his fingers and unwinding it. Chris sits with them for a moment, keeping up his soft petting. These days are always hard, and in the beginning, Chris took it so personally that he couldn’t make his husband happy. It took some research and therapy and a lot of patience on Derek’s part to help Chris understand that it’s not caused, it just is, and he needs to be loved through it. Still, Chris is more of a do-er than a waiter, and he formulates an idea. They’ve always tried to keep this struggle away from their children, worried that they would feel somehow responsible, but he thinks his husband could use a good dose of love from their favorite seven year olds.

“I’ll be right back,” he says, leaning over to kiss Cait softly on the cheek, and patting Derek on his hip.

He runs back downstairs and the twins are sitting peacefully where he left them. He sits behind them on the couch and asks for them to pause their video game before hauling them both into his lap.

“Is Papa sad?” Ezra says, before Chris can even open his mouth.

“My smart baby,” Chris says, squeezing him tight, “Yes he is. There’s no particular reason why, he just doesn’t feel well sometimes.”

  
“Kinda like when we get colds?” Akilah says.

“Exactly like that, except it’s his brain that feels bad and not his body,” Chris says, wincing a little with worry that he’s not explaining it well.

“Oh, okay. Can we help? I’m good at cheering people up,” Akilah says, game face already on.

“Yes you are, and I think you can. I want you to keep it quiet though, okay? Remember how you had to be quiet and gentle, like when Daddy hurt his head? Just like that. And I don’t want you to feel bad if it doesn’t work. As much as we want it to, it’s not going to magically make him feel better, okay?”

He waits for them to nod and grabs both of their hands so they can head to the bedroom together. Cait’s face is confused when he opens the door, and he knows he’s going to get his ass handed to him for not discussing this first, but he’ll deal if it helps their spouse. Derek smiles softly when they walk into the room but doesn’t move from his place on Cait’s lap.When Chris sits in his spot next to them, Akilah crawls right into her Papa’s arms and squeezes his face, and Ezra sits quietly in Chris’s lap.

“It’s the bad luck day, Papa.” Akilah says eventually, switching back to Spanish as she tends to do with Derek.

“What is?” Derek says, voice a bit raspy from disuse.

“That’s what’s making you sad,” she says, matter of fact.

“Yeah, the bad luck day probably makes everyone feel different, and it’s just making you feel extra bad,” Ezra says, falling into Spanish with his sister.

“Is it?” Derek says, smiling just a little. “What do you think we should do about that?”

Chris watches them as they speak a mile a minute back and forth, content to let their voices wash over him. He can feel it as some of Derek’s sadness dissipates in the face of the joy that only his children can bring him. He smiles a little to himself, pressing a kiss to Ezra’s head where he’s still situated in his lap. He taps on Cait’s shoulder and jerks his head, requesting her to follow him down the stairs. She leans down to kiss Derek on the head and tell him where she’s going. He sits up and leans against the headboard, gathering both of his kids against him, and waves them off.

Chris and Cait slip downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen and get to work preparing a snack for their husband. Chris grabs a few oranges to satisfy Derek’s fidgeting hands, and give him a healthy dose of vitamins from the juice, and pops a bagel into the toaster. Cait turns the kettle on to get started making him some tea. She turns to Chris as it’s heating up and slaps him lightly on the chest.

“We should have talked it out before you brought the kids upstairs,” she says.

“I know.”

“That could have gone very badly for all of them.”

“I know.”

She pauses and smiles a little, leaning against him and putting her face in his shoulder.

“It worked,” she whispers.

“I know,” he smiles. They sit like that for a moment before she leans back and looks at him, brow furrowed.

“Where were you this morning?” She asks.

Chris feels the ache of worry come back in his chest and he rubs at it, wincing. He doesn’t want to talk about this today, but he has never been one to keep anything from his spouses. Not that he could, they know him better than he knows himself, and that’s apparent when she sees him rubbing and her eyes narrow just a little.

“Chris, that’s your worry rub. What’s going on?”

“It’s a pretty big conversation, but I think I’ve already decided what I want. I would like to talk about it this evening after the kids have gone to bed and Derek’s feeling a little better. Is that okay?”

Cait leans forward and kisses him softly on the lips. “Yeah, handsome. I trust you.”

“Thank you,” he says, kissing her again.

All at once the bagel pops out of the toaster, the kettle goes off, and they can hear what sounds like three sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. The twins are still talking softly in Spanish to their dad as they round the corner and step into the kitchen; Derek still looks exhausted, but more lively than he has all day, and the kids managed to give him enough energy to pull on some sweatpants and a clean t shirt. Chris and Cait flutter around, setting out oranges and bagels with cream cheese on the side, and tea doctored just the way he likes.

Derek accepts it all gratefully, lifting up his chin in a request for a kiss, which Caitlin happily indulges. Chris follows suit and lingers, whispering I love yous against soft lips.

“Okay babies, go get dressed, once I finish my breakfast we can go to the grocery store,” Derek says.

“You’re coming?” Akilah gasps.

“Yes baby, I’ll come with,” he laughs, kissing her on the cheek and patting her butt to get her to go upstairs.

“I’ll come with you, little bugs. You can help me pick out something to wear, too.” Cait says, grabbing their hands and walking with them, throwing a sympathetic look at Chris over her shoulder. Derek is on Chris the moment they turn the corner.

“That was not fair of you to make that decision for me,” he whispers, annoyance threaded in every word.

“It wasn’t and I’m sorry,” Chris says, sincere.

“What did you say to them?” Derek asks, getting to work peeling an orange.

“Em asked me if you were sad before I even opened my mouth, so I told them that you weren’t feeling well. Kilah compared it to a cold, and I said that it was similar, except instead of your body getting sick, it was your brain. I also made a point to let them know that we weren’t the magical cure all to make you better, but that it was worth it to try.”

Derek nods, quietly and methodically removing the peels from his oranges. Chris stays silent, waiting for him to speak up. They’ve done this before, and after nearly 15 years together, Chris knows when to speak up and when to wait it out.

“They did help me. But I would like to talk to them as a family just to make sure they understand,” Derek says eventually. “I know where your heart was, so I forgive you. Don’t do it again.”

“Okay baby, I won’t. I promise.”

Derek nods his approval. “You’ll be home tonight? Kilah has not stopped talking about our family dinner.”

“Yes, absolutely. And there’s some stuff we need to talk about after dinner regarding a call I got from my GM today. It’s nothing serious, I know what’s best, I just want to make sure it’s okay with you two. That okay?”

“Yeah, C, of course.”

“Okay. I'm gonna go change into some jeans and then we’ll all meet you down here.”

Derek nods around his mouthful of bagel and Chris heads to his room to change. Cait is already dressed and ready and she's sitting on the bed waiting for him. He smiles at her as he goes to the closet to change and communicates that he and Derek are fine, he apologized, and everything's okay. She nods to herself and gets up, stopping to pat his butt on her way out the door. He can hear her calling out for her babies to see if they're ready, and he dresses quickly, not wanting to miss the fun.

Today may be the bad luck day according to his kids, but Chris looks at all he has and all they are, and can't help feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.


	2. Future

The twins have been put to bed and Chris is in the kitchen cleaning up the mess of dinner with his spouses. They’d had a good time, both of the twins love assisting as much as Derek loves cooking, so Chris and Cait let him do most of it. They’d had a large spread of different “good luck foods” the kids had helped them find on the internet, including, but not limited to: pomegranate, soba noodles, pork, and cornbread. They’d also gotten a few recipes from Bitty and cooked an apple pie for their dessert. Chris was glad the dinner went so well, it was a good distraction while he waited to discuss the future with his spouses. He’d received a call earlier in the day from his GM informing him of an upcoming trade to an east coast team. He’s lived here in California long enough that he knows immediately that it won’t work for him, but he needs to ensure that his spouses are on board as well.

They’ve dimmed the lights in their house and lit a few candles, the smell of apple and cinnamon and vanilla filling the house with autumn warmth. Derek is sitting at the kitchen table with their old calico in his lap, huddled in a giant hoodie and holding a glass of wine. He gets to relax since he and the kids made dinner, so Cait washes the dishes while Chris dries. Chris waits until they get into a rhythm before he speaks up.

“So Gina called me,” he starts, methodically rinsing and wiping the plates that Cait has put on his side. “They wanna trade me to Buffalo.”

“Okay. When?” Cait says.

“I didn’t ask. I’m not going,” Chris answers.

“Did they give you other options? What other teams can you go to?” Cait says, before Chris can finish his thought.

He takes a breath. “I’m going to retire.”

The pause is thick and heavy as his spouses process what he said, looking at each other before looking back him.

“Woah, C. You’ve never even mentioned being done with hockey,” Derek speaks up, confusion decorating his features.

“Because I’m not, not really,” Chris shrugs. “But the kids are seven, they love it here, half of their grandparents are here, all of their friends. We all know Akilah would be miserable if I had to split my time, she’s having a hard enough time now with me going on roadies. Plus Cait, you just got a promotion, and it’s your dream job.”

“Yeah, but if you wanted to go, we could. We would be near Nursey’s parents and sisters, and the kids, they would adjust.” Cait shakes the water and suds off of her hands, too distracted to continue washing. “You deserve to have your dream just as much as I have mine.”

  
“That’s sweet of you to say, baby girl, but you guys are my dream. I’m thirty-four, I’ve been in the game for thirteen years, I have three Stanley cups and countless other awards; I’ve peaked. But if we can stay here, I can have more time with you guys, with the kids.”

Derek puts his glass down with a hum, moves their cat to the floor, and stands in front of Chris, reaching out to hold his hips. He kisses him soft and sweet and they smile into each other.

“You are a good man, Chris Chow. I understand that you are thinking of everyone else but hockey is a huge part of you, and you shouldn’t give it up so quickly. Take a couple of days, look into your options. We will adjust if we have to, and we support you no matter what you want.” Derek says.

“I know you’ve decided,” Cait says, interrupting Chris before he can even protest, “but humor us anyway. Talk to Gina, let her give you all of the information, and we’ll talk about it again in a few days. Okay?”

Chris pauses for a moment before relenting, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. “Fine, Jesus. You two have been bullying me since the day we started dating, this is rude.”

Cait laughs and Derek grins, and Chris pulls them both to his side and hugs them tightly. He’s incredibly glad to have them, and it eases his worry to know that he has their support now, and into the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Introducing *drum roll* Akilah Imani and Ezra Michael Chow! They’re the twins Cait is pregnant with in the epilogue of feeling is first, and they’re my faves. Shoutout to Paulina for listening to me flesh them out, she’s a doll!  
> Come find me on [tumblr!](https://oluranurse.tumblr.com)


End file.
